My fears about the new ‘extremism commission’
The Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi was once invited to speak in this country — and the row which developed…
The Spectator’s notes
We went to the first night of the Proms last week. Thinking it was all over, we left the auditorium…
Bridge
The first week of July is heaven for those of us who don’t normally hear the words ‘bridge’ and ‘holiday’…
New in chess
New in Chess is one of the world’s leading chess magazines. At one time or another, every contemporary champion and…
no. 466
White to play. This position is from Quparadze-Uzunoglu, Cesme 2017. Black is hoping for counterplay on the a1-h8 diagonal but…
Amsterdam Notebook
When my husband and I arrived in our adored Amsterdam on a sun-drenched schoolday afternoon — less than an hour…
Shropshire
I found the land of lost content last week, west of the Clee Hills in the Shropshire Housman wrote about,…
Ivory towers
Great novels rarely make great movies, but for half a century one director has been showing all the others how…
Visual, visceral, confusing
Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk has already been described as ‘a masterpiece’ and ‘a glorious, breathtakingly vivid triumph’, but we need to…
A game for two
Some art can be made in solitude, straight out of the artist’s head. But portraiture is a game for two.…
The joy of the Proms
Summer nights, hot and humid, mean just one thing — it’s Proms season again. Sore feet, sweaty armpits, queuing outside…
Dethroned by feminism
I’m a bit worried about Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic). Not seriously worried: there’s too much money invested, too much…
Hadyn recreated
‘Rarely, rarely, comest thou, Spirit of Delight!’ wrote Elgar, quoting Shelley, at the top of his Second Symphony. He should…
Test of time
I first walked into the Oval as a small boy in the early 1950s. My family home was in Brixton,…
Deus ex machina
Mark Zuckerberg says that Facebook could be to its users what churches are to congregations: it could help them feel…
Must Colston fall?
Edward Colston, mega-rich philanthropist around the year 1700, is the nearest thing Bristol has to a patron saint. The largest…
It’s got to be perfect
When I order a cup of tea in Costa, the barista says: ‘Perfect!’ I ask for tap water in a…
Poor conduct
Last weekend Daniel Barenboim brought the Staatskapelle Berlin to perform at the BBC Proms for a cycle of Elgar’s symphonies.…
Kids Company faces the music
It was surreal to sit in the Donmar Warehouse and watch Committee, a musical based on the investigation into the…
New kid on the block
The new Grange Park Opera at Horsley is amazing, as everyone who visits it must agree. In less than a…
A genuine oddity
The most compelling pop singers in music right now — at least in the branch where pop singers still play…
Out of sorts at the RSC
The RSC’s summer blockbuster is about Queen Anne. It’s called Queen Anne. It opens at the Inns of Court where…
Myanmar diary
From time to time, a political leader embodies the past, present and future of their nation. Such is Aung San…
Cat call
In Competition No. 3007 you were invited to submit a poem about Larry, the Downing Street cat. Larry came to…
High life
I switch personalities at Spectator parties, depending who the guests are: for our readers’ tea party, I am a warm…
